Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff has insisted both drivers are receiving equal treatment amid a claim from Lewis Hamilton that could have suggested otherwise.
Hamilton had been within the top three positions in all three practice sessions at the Monaco Grand Prix, but he qualified two spots behind team-mate George Russell.
The seven-time champion has started ahead of his British compatriot once in the opening eight rounds and stated that he expects that trend to continue on this term.
“I already know automatically that I’m going to lose two-tenths going into qualifying,” Hamilton, who would finish where he started in seventh place, told Sky Sports F1.
“I don’t anticipate being ahead of George in qualifying, particularly this term.”
When asked how he figured he would remain behind Russell when it comes to one-lap pace through the remainder of the season, Hamilton responded: “We’ll see.”
With the news that Hamilton will be departing to move to Ferrari in 2025 public, the Briton’s words were interpreted as something was amiss on his side of the garage.
That was amplified as it transpired that Mercedes had accelerated a new specification front wing to Monte Carlo which Russell was using on his W15 car all weekend.
But Wolff urged that Mercedes has been consistent in giving its drivers the same opportunities to succeed and that hasn’t changed despite Hamilton’s impending exit.
Questioned on whether he thinks paranoia was creeping into Hamilton’s head with such comments, Wolff said: “You know, aren’t all drivers a bit sceptical at times?
“I think as a team, we’ve demonstrated even in the most tense competitions between team-mates that we are trying to always balance the drive and be transparent and fair.
“I think that was not a moment apart from 2016 Abu Dhabi [where it instructed Hamilton to stop backing up Nico Rosberg] where we tried to manage these areas.
“We haven’t done since then, but I can understand that as a driver, you want the best out of yourself and the team.
“Sometimes when it’s going against you, you can question.
“As a team, we are 100% on a mission of giving the two drivers two great cars, the best possible cars and the best possible strategies and support.”
Wolff also denied that the partnership with Hamilton was fractured and remained adamant that it is determined to ensure his last season with the team ends on a high.
“Well, we’re trying to do the best out of the relationship, trying to maximise the results for what is the final season,” he explained.
“And that, you know, always between drivers and teams can be tense at times because everybody wants to do their best.”
The reporter’s interpretation of Wolff’s words is a joke. Wolff is diplomatic, but he is gaslighting. He never directly addresses the issue. We are trying to give our drivers the best car is boilerplate and not what Lewis complained about.
It makes no sense as to why Merc would deliberately try to sabotage Hamilton in any way.
It looks like Ham is once again making excuses for why he’s losing to his team mate.
The fact is that Russell is super quick. I’m sure I’ve seen a stat which showed that in both 2022 and 2023, Russell’s average qualification time over whole season was faster than Hamilton’s.
The difference between him and Russell at Monaco this year was only 79 thousands of a second and Russell’s time was even less than half that away from 3rd place. This shows that times were super close between 7th and 3rd and to me it looks like that once again Russell was just able to extract more from the car at the crucial time.
Also Hamilton’s claim that he lost a tenth or two because of the wing needs to be taken with a pinch of salt especially considering Merc’s lack of success with other upgrades and that this is a really slow speed short track. Even if it was a “good” upgrade I can’t see it being that advantageous.